Hatch Detroit, a contest for the best new retail idea, is planning to give $50,000 to an entrepreneur to start a business in Detroit.

“We’re an organization that was created to really help entrepreneurs get off the ground in the city of Detroit,” said Ted Balowski, who founded Hatch Detroit with fellow Birmingham resident Nick Gorga, 34. “A lot of people have been saying it’s sort of a combination of ‘American Idol’ and ‘Shark Tank,’ with a little bit of a Detroit twist to it.”

On July 1, Hatch Detroit started accepting submissions from contestants through the organization’s website. The submission period goes through Sept. 1, and then a multifaceted voting process, including public voting, takes place.

They are limiting the entries to “brick and mortar” businesses that involve selling something to consumers. Bars, art galleries and retail shops are examples of the types of businesses they want included, Balowski told MLive Detroit.

“Our vision is really that the city is going to grow neighborhood by neighborhood,” said Balowski, 33. “What we’re trying to do … is help retail focused entrepreneurs, who are looking to start a storefront, get started.”

Once the submission period is complete, a panel of local business leaders will cull the list to 16 ideas (the Sweet 16 in March Madness terms).

Once the list is finalized, Hatch Detroit will “plaster (the ideas) over the Internet” and open voting on the organization’s website. Voting will narrow the 16 ideas to eight.

Then, the eight will be narrowed to the final four ideas, also called the “Hatch Off.”

The four finalists will give a five-minute pitch, to a panel of local and national judges., followed by a question-and-answer session.

The “Hatch Off” will be live at a public event and streamed online, said Balowski, an account executive with the Troy-based IT company CareTech Solutions.

The funding for Hatch Detroit hasn’t been fully raised, but they are continuing to raise the $50,000 in prize money through sponsorships and donations, which can be given through HatchDetroit.com.

“You can donate a dollar or anything over that,” said Balowski, adding if the money isn’t raised, he and Gorga - a partner at Detroit-based Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP - are willing to fund the difference.

Once the contest is over, Balowski said the goal is to continue running Hatch Detroit events, fundraisers, and contests.

“The state is obviously changing and evolving pretty quickly, and I think Hatch Detroit will kind of mirror that,” he said. “(The support has) been phenomenal, both - Nick and I - have been overly humbled by the response.”